Contest offers home energy upgrades

Citizen Staff Reports

07/17/12

One local homeowner will win up to $10,000 in home energy upgrades to lower energy bills and increase comfort, through the Richmond Region Energy Alliance's Richmond Home Energy Makeover Contest, which opened today and will continue through Aug. 26.

Ten finalists will also win free home energy assessments valued at $300. Local nonprofits can also take part in the Contest’s Nonprofit Challenge for a chance to win a $1,000 cash prize.

“This is an exciting opportunity for homeowners in Richmond to finally take control of their home energy bills,” said Bill Greenleaf, executive director of the Richmond Region Energy Alliance. “With home energy improvements, one lucky homeowner will win once and save forever. We hear from homeowners all the time that they are paying too much on their energy bills while still suffocating in their homes during our hot and humid summers – and then shivering in frigid rooms in the winter. The Richmond Home Energy Makeover Contest is a free and easy way to enjoy your home again.”

The contest is open to single family homeowners who reside in the counties of Henrico, Hanover, Chesterfield, Goochland, Powhatan, New Kent and Charles City, the City of Richmond and the Town of Ashland

Contest entry involves completion of a five-minute form that will create a personalized home energy report that identifies what your energy bills are paying for and outlines simple ways you can cut those costs.

The Richmond Region Energy Alliance is a community-based nonprofit that provides tips for homeowners to solve their high home energy bills and comfort issues through home energy improvements. The contest is sponsored by Carrier Corp and EarthCraft Virginia.

Home energy improvements for the grand prize winner will range from small to large solutions and often include air and duct sealing, HVAC upgrades, insulation, sealing and/or replacing windows and doors, lighting and appliance upgrades.

The winner will be selected at the end of September, and the improvement work will be scheduled in October in coordination with the homeowner.

The Henricopolis Soil & Water Conservation District will sponsor a tree seedling giveaway on April 2 at Dorey Park Shelter 1 from 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and on April 3 at Hermitage High School parking lot from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Bare-root tree seedlings are available to Henrico County residents free of charge for the spring planting season.

The following seedling species will be available: apple, kousa dogwood, red maple, river birch, red osier dogwood, loblolly pine, sycamore, bald cypress, white dogwood and redbud. Quantities are limited and trees are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Each participant is allowed up to 10 trees total, not to include more than five of the same species. > Read more.

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) recently launched an online directory of permitted bingo games played in Virginia. Listed by locality, more than 400 regular games are available across the state. The directory will be updated monthly and can be found on VDACS’ website at http://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/gaming/index.shtml.

“Many Virginia charities, including volunteer rescue squads, booster clubs and programs to feed the homeless, use proceeds from charitable gaming as a tool to support their missions, said Michael Menefee, program manager for VDACS’ Office of Charitable and Regulatory Programs. > Read more.

Richmonders Jim Morgan and Dan Stackhouse were married at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Lakeside Mar. 7 month after winning the Say I Do! With OutRVA wedding contest in February. The contest was open to LGBT couples in recognition of Virginia’s marriage equality law, which took effect last fall. The wedding included a package valued at $25,000.

Morgan and Stackhouse, who became engaged last fall on the day marriage equality became the law in Virginia, have been together for 16 years. They were selected from among 40 couples who registered for the contest. The winners were announced at the Say I Do! Dessert Soiree at the Renaissance in Richmond in February. > Read more.

Two events this weekend benefit man’s best friend – a rabies clinic, sponsored by the Glendale Ruritan Club, and an American Red Cross Canine First Aid & CPR workshop at Alpha Dog Club. The fifth annual Shelby Rocks “Cancer is a Drag” Womanless Pageant will benefit the American Cancer Society and a spaghetti luncheon on Sunday will benefit the Eastern Henrico Ruritan Club. Twin Hickory Library will also host a used book sale this weekend with proceeds benefiting The Friends of the Twin Hickory Library. For all our top picks this weekend, click here! > Read more.

In a spot that could be easily overlooked is a surprising, and delicious, Japanese restaurant. In a tiny nook in the shops at the corner of Ridgefield Parkway and Pump Road sits a welcoming, warm and comfortable Asian restaurant called Ichiban, which means “the best.”

The restaurant, tucked between a couple others in the Gleneagles Shopping Center, was so quiet and dark that it was difficult to tell if it was open at 6:30 p.m. on a Monday. When I opened the door, I smiled when I looked inside. > Read more.

Cinderella is the latest from Disney’s new moviemaking battle plan: producing live-action adaptations of all their older classics. Which is a plan that’s had questionable results in the past.

Alice in Wonderland bloated with more Tim Burton goth-pop than the inside of a Hot Topic. Maleficent was a step in the right direction, but the movie couldn’t decide if Maleficent should be a hero or a villain (even if she should obviously be a villain) and muddled itself into mediocrity.

Cinderella is much better. Primarily, because it’s just Cinderella. No radical rebooting. No Tim Burton dreck. It’s the 1950 Disney masterpiece, transposed into live action and left almost entirely untouched. > Read more.